vestige/CHANGELOG.md

Changelog

All notable changes to Vestige will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

[1.8.0] - 2026-02-21

Added

• session_context tool — one-call session initialization replacing 5 separate calls (search × 2, intention check, system_status, predict). Token-budgeted responses (~15K tokens → ~500-1000 tokens). Returns assembled markdown context, automationTriggers (needsDream/needsBackup/needsGc), and expandable memory IDs for on-demand retrieval.
• token_budget parameter on search — limits response size (100-10000 tokens). Results exceeding budget moved to expandable array with tokensUsed/tokenBudget tracking.
• Reader/writer connection split — Storage struct uses Mutex<Connection> for separate reader/writer SQLite handles with WAL mode. All methods take &self (interior mutability). Arc<Mutex<Storage>> → Arc<Storage> across ~30 files.
• int8 vector quantization — ScalarKind::F16 → I8 (2x memory savings, <1% recall loss)
• Migration v7 — FTS5 porter tokenizer (15-30% keyword recall) + page_size 8192 (10-30% faster large-row reads)
• 22 new tests for session_context and token_budget (335 → 357 mcp tests, 651 total)

Changed

• Tool count: 18 → 19
• EmbeddingService::init() changed from &mut self to &self (dead model_loaded field removed)
• CLAUDE.md updated: session start uses session_context, 19 tools documented, development section reflects storage architecture

Performance

• Session init: ~15K tokens → ~500-1000 tokens (single tool call)
• Vector storage: 2x reduction (F16 → I8)
• Keyword search: 15-30% better recall (FTS5 porter stemming)
• Large-row reads: 10-30% faster (page_size 8192)
• Concurrent reads: non-blocking (reader/writer WAL split)

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[1.7.0] - 2026-02-20

Changed

• Tool consolidation: 23 → 18 tools — merged redundant tools while maintaining 100% backward compatibility via deprecated redirects
• ingest → smart_ingest — ingest was a duplicate of smart_ingest; now redirects automatically
• session_checkpoint → smart_ingest batch mode — new items parameter on smart_ingest accepts up to 20 items, each running the full cognitive pipeline (importance scoring, intent detection, synaptic tagging, hippocampal indexing). Old session_checkpoint skipped the cognitive pipeline.
• promote_memory + demote_memory → memory unified — new promote and demote actions on the memory tool with optional reason parameter and full cognitive feedback pipeline (reward signal, reconsolidation, competition)
• health_check + stats → system_status — single tool returns combined health status, full statistics, FSRS preview, cognitive module health, state distribution, warnings, and recommendations
• CLAUDE.md automation overhaul — all 18 tools now have explicit auto-trigger rules; session start expanded to 5 steps (added system_status + predict); full proactive behaviors table

Added

• smart_ingest batch mode with items parameter (max 20 items, full cognitive pipeline per item)
• memory actions: promote and demote with optional reason parameter
• system_status tool combining health check + statistics + cognitive health
• 30 new tests (305 → 335)

Deprecated (still work via redirects)

• ingest → use smart_ingest
• session_checkpoint → use smart_ingest with items
• promote_memory → use memory(action="promote")
• demote_memory → use memory(action="demote")
• health_check → use system_status
• stats → use system_status

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[1.6.0] - 2026-02-19

Changed

• F16 vector quantization — USearch vectors stored as F16 instead of F32 (2x storage savings)
• Matryoshka 256-dim truncation — embedding dimensions reduced from 768 to 256 (3x embedding storage savings)
• Convex Combination fusion — replaced RRF with 0.3 keyword / 0.7 semantic weighted fusion for better score preservation
• Cross-encoder reranker — added Jina Reranker v1 Turbo (fastembed TextRerank) for neural reranking (~20% retrieval quality improvement)
• Combined: 6x vector storage reduction with better retrieval quality
• Cross-encoder loads in background — server starts instantly
• Old 768-dim embeddings auto-migrated on load

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[1.5.0] - 2026-02-18

Added

• CognitiveEngine — 28-module stateful engine with full neuroscience pipeline on every tool call
• dream tool — memory consolidation via replay, discovers hidden connections and synthesizes insights
• explore_connections tool — graph traversal with chain, associations, and bridges actions
• predict tool — proactive retrieval based on context and activity patterns
• restore tool — restore memories from JSON backup files
• Automatic consolidation — FSRS-6 decay runs on a 6-hour timer + inline every 100 tool calls
• ACT-R base-level activation with full access history
• Episodic-to-semantic auto-merge during consolidation
• Cross-memory reinforcement on access
• Park et al. triple retrieval scoring
• Personalized w20 optimization

Changed

• All existing tools upgraded with cognitive pre/post processing pipelines
• Tool count: 19 → 23

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[1.3.0] - 2026-02-12

Added

• importance_score tool — 4-channel neuroscience scoring (novelty, arousal, reward, attention)
• session_checkpoint tool — batch smart_ingest up to 20 items with Prediction Error Gating
• find_duplicates tool — cosine similarity clustering with union-find for dedup
• vestige ingest CLI command for memory ingestion via command line

Changed

• Tool count: 16 → 19
• Made get_node_embedding public in core API
• Added get_all_embeddings for duplicate scanning

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[1.2.0] - 2026-02-12

Added

• Web dashboard — Axum-based on port 3927 with memory browser, search, and system stats
• memory_timeline tool — browse memories chronologically, grouped by day
• memory_changelog tool — audit trail of memory state transitions
• health_check tool — system health status with recommendations
• consolidate tool — run FSRS-6 maintenance cycle
• stats tool — full memory system statistics
• backup tool — create SQLite database backups
• export tool — export memories as JSON/JSONL with filters
• gc tool — garbage collect low-retention memories
• backup_to() and get_recent_state_transitions() storage APIs

Changed

• Search now supports detail_level (brief/summary/full) to control token usage
• Tool count: 8 → 16

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[1.1.3] - 2026-02-12

Changed

• Upgraded to Rust edition 2024
• Security hardening and dependency updates

Fixed

• Dedup on ingest edge cases
• Intel Mac CI builds
• NPM package version alignment
• Removed dead TypeScript package

---

[1.1.2] - 2025-01-27

Fixed

• Embedding model cache now uses platform-appropriate directories instead of polluting project folders
  • macOS: ~/Library/Caches/com.vestige.core/fastembed
  • Linux: ~/.cache/vestige/fastembed
  • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\vestige\cache\fastembed
• Can still override with FASTEMBED_CACHE_PATH environment variable

---

[1.1.1] - 2025-01-27

Fixed

• UTF-8 string slicing issues in keyword search and prospective memory
• Silent error handling in MCP stdio protocol
• Feature flag forwarding between crates
• All GitHub issues resolved (#1, #3, #4)

Added

• Pre-built binaries for Linux, Windows, and macOS (Intel & ARM)
• GitHub Actions CI/CD for automated releases

---

[1.1.0] - 2025-01-26

Changed

• Tool Consolidation: 29 tools → 8 cognitive primitives
  • recall, semantic_search, hybrid_search → search
  • get_knowledge, delete_knowledge, get_memory_state → memory
  • remember_pattern, remember_decision, get_codebase_context → codebase
  • 5 intention tools → intention
• Stats and maintenance moved from MCP to CLI (vestige stats, vestige health, etc.)

Added

• CLI admin commands: vestige stats, vestige health, vestige consolidate, vestige restore
• Feedback tools: promote_memory, demote_memory
• 30+ FAQ entries with verified neuroscience claims
• Storage modes documentation: Global, per-project, multi-Claude household
• CLAUDE.md templates for proactive memory use
• Version pinning via git tags

Deprecated

• Old tool names (still work with warnings, removed in v2.0)

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[1.0.0] - 2025-01-25

Added

• FSRS-6 spaced repetition algorithm with 21 parameters
• Bjork & Bjork dual-strength memory model (storage + retrieval strength)
• Local semantic embeddings with fastembed v5 (BGE-base-en-v1.5, 768 dimensions)
• HNSW vector search with USearch (20x faster than FAISS)
• Hybrid search combining BM25 keyword + semantic + RRF fusion
• Two-stage retrieval with reranking (+15-20% precision)
• MCP server for Claude Desktop integration
• Tauri desktop application
• Codebase memory module for AI code understanding
• Neuroscience-inspired memory mechanisms:
  • Synaptic Tagging and Capture (retroactive importance)
  • Context-Dependent Memory (Tulving encoding specificity)
  • Spreading Activation Networks
  • Memory States (Active/Dormant/Silent/Unavailable)
  • Multi-channel Importance Signals (Novelty/Arousal/Reward/Attention)
  • Hippocampal Indexing (Teyler & Rudy 2007)
• Prospective memory (intentions and reminders)
• Sleep consolidation with 5-stage processing
• Memory compression for long-term storage
• Cross-project learning for universal patterns

Changed

• Upgraded embedding model from all-MiniLM-L6-v2 (384d) to BGE-base-en-v1.5 (768d)
• Upgraded fastembed from v4 to v5

Fixed

• SQL injection protection in FTS5 queries
• Infinite loop prevention in file watcher
• SIGSEGV crash in vector index (reserve before add)
• Memory safety with Mutex wrapper for embedding model

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[0.1.0] - 2025-01-24

Added

• Initial release
• Core memory storage with SQLite + FTS5
• Basic FSRS scheduling
• MCP protocol support
• Desktop app skeleton